It's a well known fact that all major sports franchise owners are totally insane. I do not include Major League Soccer and Major Indoor Soccer League teams in the category of major sports franchises. Because "major" is in the name of the league doesn't mean it is "major;" and when the soccer people in the United States finally figure out that they have to rename the game "football," just like the rest of the entire world, then it might begin to qualify as a major sport.
Getting back to the insanity of sports, here's a small example of what I mean. There is a baseball player. Now, you might be thinking that I'm going to rant about the Chicago Cubs signing Alphonso Soriano to an eight-year, $136 million contract or whine about the San Francisco Giants inking pitcher Barry Zito to a seven-year, $126 million deal; but I'll let others comment on those obscenities.
I never heard of the player I'm writing about here. He's 34 years old, which is "old" by Major League Baseball standards. He's a catcher, who has been in the "bigs" for six years, meaning he spent a significant amount of time knocking around the minor leagues, some say, in an optimistic tone, honing his craft, whereas others say, hanging on. He's on the down side of a .241 lifetime average. By being on the down side, I mean that he's a part-time player, making it into 49 games last season in a 162-game season; and his batting average has plummeted in the last three years to a less-than-mediocre .219 in 2006. Many aficionados will counter that his forte is defense, with which I will not quibble; but his major league career over that six years encompasses a total of 261 games, not enough time to make many mistakes, in my book.
Adam Melhuse signed a one-year contract with the Oakland A's for the 2007 season for a base salary of $815,000. Insanity reigns.
Posted by Bill at January 7, 2007 01:35 PMOh, but it was a good weekend. The Seahawks eliminated the Cowboys. Out here that's golden news.
Posted by: Joel at January 7, 2007 10:53 PM